tFS chats with fashion blogger and English grad student Kater from All This HappinessThe Fashion Spot: How did you get interested in fashion?

Kater R: I come from a fashion and personal-style conscious family, so from a young age I was interested in fashion and costume, but really started thinking about dress in a serious way (which sounds incredibly pretentious, but it’s true really) after high-school.

Suddenly, I couldn’t rely on a uniform anymore for everyday wear, and I wanted to be seen as a person who took care in presenting themselves. I started thinking more about the sort of clothes I wanted to wear, but didn’t, for fear of seeming strange or standing out in my small city, rather than just what seemed trendy.

It became important to me to develop a personal style, but the innate interest in fashion was always there. tFS: When did you first start your blog?

KR: I started my blog in late 2007. I had been sharing my outfits and shopping finds and thoughts online in Livejournal communities and among friends since much earlier (with much more embarrassing outfits!), but discovered a few fashion-centric blogs and thought it might be fun to start my own. I found that I loved sharing my outfits, and writing about what inspires them, or frustrates me about them, was a great way to intersect my love of writing and interest in clothing. I’m always inspired by books and movies, and I wanted to somehow combine all that into my own little corner of the world. tFS: What fashion sites and blogs do you read daily?

KR: My google reader is enormous! I tend to go through phases with blogs I visit most regularly, but of course I tend to read those of the people who I’ve formed blogger friendships with most often. I read a lot of vintage-centric blogs like Sally Jane Vintage and The Snail and the Cyclops, and I’m also a big fan of fieldguided. I also love keeping up with A Cup of Jo for just about everything.

tFS: Favorite time of year for fashion?

KR: I love the look of summer outfits, the gauzy dresses, sandals, loose hair and all that, but it doesn’t seem to suit me very well! I will have to be typical and cite autumn as my favorite time of year for fashion. I think perhaps it is the most bookish of seasons, and allows for the light layering of summer and winter fabrics and garments that is outfit perfection.

tFS: Fantasy dinner companion(s)?

KR: I’m always stumped by this question – there are so many people I would like to meet, and yet I feel that I would be terribly intimidated by them! I suppose I would like to have loads of my favorite authors around, or perhaps just the fictional characters in books who I miss when I’m not reading them. For real people though, I think it would be just fantastic to have a get-together with all the lovely people I’ve become friends with because of blogging. It’s such a shame so many of us don’t live near each other!

tFS: Do you pay a lot of attention to reader feedback?

KR: I do! Generally my posts these days tend to be more about my outfits and why I wear them, how I got them, including little stories about them. Those posts seemed to get the best responses, so I’ve upped their frequency. Other features such as posts about things that are inspiring me at the moment also do well, and readers seem to like sharing poems and favorite books, so those pop up now and again. I always try to answer comments that ask specific questions either at the questioner’s blog or in the comments on the original post.tFS: Who are your favorite labels and designers?

KR: Most of what I buy tends towards vintage, without paying much attention to names. I do wander my way through various collections to see what’s up, or when I’m particularly stumped on an outfit.

I am usually quite fond of Rachel Roy’s collections, and the whimsical spirit in me is a bit typically enamored with Charles Anastase. I liked Miu Miu’s kitties on collars, because deep down I cannot resist anything with a cat on it. When I shop in real-life though, I rummage through vintage stores weekly and spend a lot of my pennies in J. Crew and H&M.tFS: What do you want to be doing in five years? How do you plan to do it?

KR: I’m working on (well, to be totally honest, only just barely starting) my master’s thesis, so in five years I certainly hope to be done with that and well on my way to some fantastic job! I would love to write, just about anything, articles or stories or silly little captions. I’m crossing my fingers and tentatively dipping my toes into seeing if there are ways I can parlay my blog into landing my some kind of writing gig, and so I suppose keep writing and doing will work for now.